


Needle Pulls, Thread Follows

by 7veilsphaedra



Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:28:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25612858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/7veilsphaedra/pseuds/7veilsphaedra
Summary: Spring brings more than cherry blossoms.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Needle Pulls, Thread Follows

**Author's Note:**

> Status: Drabble, about 450 words complete.  
> Prompt: Byakuya/Renji: like cherry blossoms in winter

The day was so cold and crisp, not even the calm, tempered tones of Byakuya’s voice could avoid sending signals of puffed clouds into the air as he dictated his orders to Renji. The air felt sharp against the bones and needle points of sleet stung the exposed skin of their cheeks. The clip-clop of Renji’s geta as they crossed the rain-slicked paving stones seemed even louder than normal, as though all the city’s sounds had condensed to that street under the heavy blue skies. 

Byakuya fell silent as they passed over the Meguro canal, which was lined with tiny peach-coloured lanterns. The canal forced the river to flow through a narrow, rigid chute of reinforced concrete and stone which was very straight and formal in its composition, but untrammeled and blackened cherry boughs crawled along the spaces lining it — a riot of soft pinks and purples. These, against the reflection of the pregnant skies at dusk, turned the inner city scene into a watery palette of subtle hues. The freshness of the air, which Byakuya had avoided inhaling too deeply for its chill, held a top-note of nectar. 

The captain stood in silent appreciation of the scene for several long minutes. This extended in silence and stillness and portent like the meditation before a duel, and only came to an end when Renji started to scratch himself. 

It was an improvement, Byakuya told himself. There was a time when his second’s complaining tones would’ve roughly fractured the silence. At least now, though he might not be able to behold the gift of that particular moment with the same reverence as Byakuya, though he might not even be able to spot it, he wasn’t cluttering up the silence with a lot of foolish, bluntly worded reminders aimed at interrupting the captain’s reverie and pushing him along. Renji had learned some patience and forebearance. 

At the end of the little pedestrian crossway, an old woman was trimming a guttering candle and replacing it in the lantern. 

“Where the needle pulls, the thread follows.” She cackled as the two officers passed.

“I beg your pardon?” Byakuya turned to confront her.

Mortals weren’t supposed to see shinigami until they were ready to be reaped. This woman wasn’t dead. There was no chain forming at her chest. In fact, from the placid way she continued to work, without even glancing at the team of death-gods, he wondered if his ears weren’t playing tricks on him. 

Renji tugged on his sleeve and pointed to the bannister they had just passed. Byakuya saw a slinky charcoal-coloured tail wave and disappear as the cat it belonged to jumped to the far side of the bridge. 

“Yoruichi,” he snorted. After all these years, she was still playing tricks on him.

“It’s kind of a pretty spot there, isn’t it?” Renji murmured, unconcerned.

“Sorry? What did you say?” Byakuya couldn’t believe his ears.

“I don’t know what it is, but I like seeing all those pretty flowers and the way they hang over the water like that. They looked kinda nice, don’t you think?”

“Were they?” Byakuya swallowed a smile, now that he caught Yoruichi’s meaning. “I can’t say I noticed.”

Some threads took a little longer to follow than others.


End file.
